Speak Up. Speak Out! Elevating The Voices of Our Sisters
An international day of the girl celebration
Speak Up. Speak Out! Elevating the Voices of Our Sisters is a tribute to the leaders of the past and the power and potential of the next generation of young women. The program will include inspiring and thought-provoking messages from women and youth leaders and a special message from 2020 Chisholm Champion Mayor Aja Brown.
Special Thanks to Our Sponsors and Partners
Featured Speakers
Congresswoman Lucy McBath (GA-06)
Representative Lucy McBath is a mom, a wife, an author, and an advocate.
On Black Friday in 2012, McBath’s son, Jordan Davis, was sitting in the back seat of a friend’s car at a gas station. A man pulled up next to them, complaining about the “loud music” they were playing. The man pulled out a gun and fired 10 shots into the car, hitting Jordan three times, and killing him.
After Jordan’s death, McBath dedicated her life to preventing other families from experiencing the same pain she did.
McBath left her 30-year career as a flight attendant at Delta Airlines to become the national spokesperson and faith and outreach leader for Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
In 2017, after the mass shooting that killed 17 high schoolers at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, McBath knew she had to stand up and run for Congress
Since taking her oath of office in January of 2019, McBath has sought bipartisan solutions to end gun violence, uplift small business and our economy, protect and serve our nation’s veterans, and lower the cost of health care and prescription drugs.
A two-time breast cancer survivor, Representative McBath knows how important it is to protect those with pre-existing conditions and ensure all Americans have access to quality, affordable care. McBath has supported H.R. 1425, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act, a bipartisan bill to ensure that everyone with preexisting conditions is covered. McBath also introduced legislation requiring Medicare to cover hearings aids, and her bill was included in H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act. This landmark, bipartisan legislation would lower the cost of medication, stop big pharmaceutical companies from ripping off families, and reinvest billions in innovation and the search for new cures and treatments.
McBath has also made protecting small businesses a priority, supporting legislation like the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which would strengthen the Paycheck Protection Program, provide more funding for SBA disaster lending, and ensure that more small businesses have access to the money they need.
In August of 2019, McBath’s bill, the HAVEN Act, which protects veterans in need, was signed into law by President Trump. The Washington Post called this bipartisan piece of legislation the “biggest bill passed” by a freshman this Congress. She has been called “an effective lawmaker” during her first year in Congress, and “one of the House Democratic Caucus’ most important voices.”
To protect the education of our children, five measures led by McBath were included in the landmark Higher Education Act, a bill to improve the quality of education, lower the cost of college, and expand opportunity for students across America.
McBath also led bipartisan legislation in December of 2019 to modernize data collection practices and improve epidemic preparedness at the Centers for Disease Control. In March, she secured the $500 million she requested as part of the COVID-19 relief package.
In addition, she also successfully requested that $25 million in federal funds be allocated to the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health for gun violence prevention research, the first of its kind in twenty years.
Representative McBath has made securing federal funds for Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District a priority, helping obtain a $5 million grant to fund the Akers Mill ramp project in Cobb County, as well as supporting a grant to improve the safety and security of Temple Emanu-El in Sandy Springs, which was awarded in November of 2019.
The Congresswoman proudly represents Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District, but the most important title she will ever hold is Jordan’s Mom.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is an advocate, a policy-maker, an activist, and a survivor. On November 6, 2018, Congresswoman Pressley was elected to represent Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, making her the first woman of color to be elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts 7th is the most diverse and most unequal district in the state, requiring a representative whose experiences are reflective of the people.
Like many in her district, Congresswoman Pressley has endured numerous hardships throughout her life, and it is because of those experiences that she remains a dedicated activist who’s devoted to creating robust and informed policies that speak to the intersectionality of her district’s lived experiences. She believes that the people closest to the pain should be closest to the power and that a diversity of voices in the political process is essential to making policies that benefit more Americans.
Born in Cincinnati and raised in Chicago, Congresswoman Pressley is the only child of a single mother and a father who was in and out of the criminal justice system - creating an unstable household and forcing her to mature at a rapid rate. While her father ultimately overcame his addiction and went on to become a published author, Congresswoman Pressley was primarily raised by her mother Sandra Pressley, a tenants’ rights organizer who instilled in her the value of civic engagement. Thanks to her mother’s dedication to activism, Congresswoman Pressley has always been acutely aware of the role that government can play in lifting up families and communities.
Congresswoman Pressley attended the Francis W. Parker School, a private school in Chicago where her activism and commitment to public service took hold. A devoted student, Congresswoman Pressley was supported by her teachers, faculty, and peers and was elected class president every year from 7th grade through senior year of high school. She was also elected student government president, was a competitive debater through her school’s chapter of Junior State of America, was the commencement speaker for her graduating class, and was named “most likely to be mayor of Chicago.”
Congresswoman Pressley moved to Boston, MA in 1992 to attend Boston University, however, after a couple of years of enrollment, she withdrew from the University to help support her mother. She remained an activist in the community, working as a senior aide to Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, volunteering for Senator John Kerry’s reelection campaign, and working for Senator Kerry for 13 years in a variety of roles, including constituency director and political director. Senator Kerry described Congresswoman Pressley as a “force” who "believed in public service."
In 2009, she launched a historic at-large campaign for Boston City Council and won, becoming the first woman of color elected to the Council in its 100-year history. On the Council, Congresswoman Pressley worked in partnership with residents, advocates, and other elected officials to combat the inequities and disparities facing the community. In her eight-year tenure on the Council, she:
Revised and mandated enforcement of a pregnant and parenting teen policy for Boston Public Schools to strengthen pathways to graduation and to reduce the dropout rate,
Developed a comprehensive, culturally competent, medically accurate, and age appropriate sexual education and health curriculum, which was successfully adopted as a permanent part of the Boston Public Schools’ wellness policy,
Convened the first “listening-only hearing” in the Boston City Council’s history, where 300 families impacted by gun violence and trauma shared their stories with city officials,
Partnered with the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, to develop evidence-based research to reform school disciplinary policies that contribute to the school to prison pipeline for black and Latinx girls, and
Successfully pushed for the creation of 75 new liquor licenses, 80% dedicated to disenfranchised neighborhoods, resulting in the creation of dozens of new restaurants and hundreds of jobs in local Boston communities.
In 2016, Congresswoman Pressley was named one of The New York Times 14 Young Democrats to Watch. In 2014, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce named her as one of their Ten Outstanding Young Leaders, and the Victim Rights Law Center presented her with their Leadership Award. In 2015, she earned the EMILY’s List Rising Star Award and was named one of Boston Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful People. She is also an Aspen-Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership, Class of 2012.
Mayor Sadaf Jaffer (NJ)
Sadaf Jaffer is a scholar, activist, and elected official. Dr. Jaffer is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University where she teaches courses on South Asian, Islamic, and Asian American Studies. She has published articles in the Journal of Women’s History, as well as the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Huffington Post, and Altmuslimah blogs.
Dr. Jaffer is also the mayor of Montgomery Township, New Jersey where she has focused her administration on good governance and increased transparency, communications, diversity, and inclusivity. Mayor Jaffer has been especially involved in work to combat prejudice and build connections throughout the community. In her first year on Township Committee she founded Montgomery Mosaic, a group allied with the national Not In Our Town (NIOT) movement. She serves on the board of directors for The New Agenda, an organization that promotes women's economic empowerment and combats sexual harassment and sexual assault. She is on the advisory board of Inspiring South Asian American Women (ISAAW), a group dedicated to encouraging civic engagement among South Asian American women in New Jersey. She is also on the advisory board of ARTE: Art and Resistance through Education, a non-profit that promotes human rights education and youth development through the arts.
Dr. Jaffer earned her bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and obtained her PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University with a secondary field in studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality.
Activist and Pastor Cori Bush (MO)
Cori Bush is the Democratic nominee for Missouri’s First Congressional District who, on August 4th, 2020, defeated 10-term incumbent Lacy Clay in the primary election. She is a registered nurse, single-mother, ordained pastor. Following the murder of Mike Brown in St. Louis by a police officer, she became a civil rights activist fighting for justice for Black lives on the streets of Ferguson and across the country. If elected in November, she will be the first Black congresswoman from the state of Missouri.
Atlanta Board of Education Vice Chair Eshé P. Collins (GA)
An Atlanta native and former teacher in Atlanta Public Schools, Eshé P. Collins never wavered from her strong passion for education. Beginning at a young age, she always knew the value of a solid education: a challenging curriculum, a system of great teachers, and strong family and community involvement. Eshé understands the impact of quality education in realizing the potential of the city, and is excited to leverage her passion and experience to provide all students in Atlanta with the education they deserve.
Eshé has an extensive record of commitment and achievement in urban education and communities. As a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at A.D. Williams Elementary School, 92 percent of her students met or exceeded expectations on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test for both grade levels. Eshé also led the after-school, and summer tutoring programs for the Bowen Homes community and co-founded the “Reaching Back, Bridging Gaps” reading program, a community-based literacy initiative.
Eshé’s work within urban settings has been the combination of her classroom, policy and legal experience on issues that address student achievement and equity in education. She analyzed national education issues and advocated for accessible healthcare at the Children’s Defense Fund. Also, Eshé worked in Cape Town, South Africa, where she helped refugee women and children access quality services and enrollment in local schools.
Currently, Eshé serves as Georgia State University’s project director for Jumpstart, an early education, nonprofit organization that delivers a high-quality curriculum to preschool children in low-income neighborhoods. In this role, she trains adults to teach and lead in their communities; works closely with parents to improve family involvement; and more importantly, inspires children to learn through the love of literacy. Within the program, Eshé has increased community involvement by 150 percent, which has resulted in community members’ service of more than 15,000 hours in the classroom and community each year.
In pursuit of her passion, Eshé earned a B.A. degree in psychology from Spelman College; M.S. in urban teacher leadership from Georgia State University; and J.D., cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law. She holds Georgia educator certifications in early childhood education and educational leadership, and a license to practice law in the state of Georgia.
Eshé is a woman of many accomplishments and continues to be an avid servant throughout the Atlanta community.
Activist Daphne Frias (NY)
Daphne Frias is a 22-year-old youth activist. She is unapologetically Latina. Daphne has Cerebral Palsy and uses a wheelchair to ambulate. She is fiercely proud to be a loud champion for the disabled community. She got her start shortly after the Parkland shooting by busing 100+ students from her college campus to the nearest March For Our Lives (MFOL) event. In July of 2019, she was appointed as the NY State Director for March For Our Lives and recently completed her one year tenure there.
Through her work with MFOL, she became passionate about increasing youth voter turnout amongst 18-29 year-olds. As a result, she created her own non-profit called Box The Ballot (BTB), which aims to harness the power of absentee ballots. By partnering with students on college campuses, BTB was able to collect nearly 470,000 absentee ballots in the 2018 midterms. Fighting the climate crisis is something she is equally as passionate about.
Born and raised in West Harlem, NYC, she has seen how minority communities are disproportionally affected by climate change. Having been an official spokesperson from the global climate strikes on September 20th, she has no intention of backing down until the health of our earth is secure. Her passion for advocacy propelled her to run from county committee women of Assembly District 70, Election District 80 in West Harlem. In June of 2019, Daphne won her election and continues to work hard to represent her constituents. In the spring of 2019, she was appointed as one of the North American Regional Focal Points for Sustainable Development Goal 16 at the U.N. Major Group for Children and Youth. In this position, she works to highlight and represent the voice of her fellow youth and the work they are doing to become pivotal peacemakers.
Currently, she serves as the Partner Outreach Director of SafeBAE, an organization that empowers Middle and High Schoolers to end dating violence; through, educational national chapter networks, and their innovative local summits. She currently supervises the Youth Outreach Coordinator, as well as working diligently to create diverse partnerships to push the movement forward.
Activist Charitie Ropati (NY)
Charitie Ropati is an 18-year-old undergraduate student activist attending Columbia University and a 2019 Center for Native American Youth Champion for Change. She works to decolonize Western pedagogies in public education and addresses the dropout and graduation crisis of Indigenous students through Native-centric curricula.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. South Atlantic Regional Director Carolyn Randolph (GA)
Carolyn Gause Randolph is a Life Member who has been active in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated for more than 30 years. She was initiated in Alpha Psi Omega Chapter in Wilmington, North Carolina. Currently, Mrs. Randolph is a member of Gamma Tau Omega Chapter in Columbus, Georgia
Mrs. Randolph has held a number of positions on the local, regional, and international level. In her current chapter, she has served as President (two terms), First Vice President, Second Vice President, House Treasurer, Chaplain, Chair of the Connections Committee, a member of the Graduate Advisors Council, and former Chair of the Scholarship Committee. She holds the distinction of serving as the first President of the chapter’s foundation, S.I.S.T.E.R.S., Inc., founded in 2006.
For the South Atlantic Region, she served as Cluster Coordinator for Cluster IV; a member of the Regional Leadership Team; Chair of the 57th Regional Conference; Representative to the Regional Nominating Committee; and a member of the Boule Luncheon Committee.
On the international level, Mrs. Randolph is the immediate past Chair of the International Nominating Committee and a former member of the Reinstatement Task Force Committee; and the Boule Sargent-At-Arms Committee.
She is most proud of being a 2018 recipient of the Georgia Legislative Women’s Caucus Servant Leadership Award. Georgia State Representative Carolyn Hugley (District 136) presented the award to Mrs. Randolph during Women’s History Month.
Mrs. Randolph is a retired educator currently serving as a Clinical Supervisor for the Mathematics Woodrow Wilson Fellows and an adjunct instructor at Columbus State University. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a Master of Science degree from North Carolina A&T State University, and an Education Specialist degree from Columbus State University.
Mrs. Randolph is a member of Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia, and is married to Chester Randolph. They have three adult daughters, one a sorority member, and three precious grandchildren.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Southern Regional Director Deidra Diaz (AL)
Deidra K. Diaz is the Southern Regional Director of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Diaz is a member of The Links, Incorporated and has served on the National Communications Committee and National Marketing & Branding Committee as well as the Chair of Fundraising for the Magic City (AL) chapter. Diaz has chaired the Junior League of Birmingham’s public affairs and marketing communications committees, serve as an executive committee member for the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, and served on the boards for more than a dozen organizations in Birmingham and across Alabama. She is the recipient of the 2020 Hunstville Alumnae Chapter Delta of the Year Award, a Who’s Who in Black Alabama Top 40 Under 40 leader, an NAACP Outstanding Woman honoree, and was recognized by Ebony Magazine as a Top 30 Under 30 Young Leader of the Future.
Electric Violinist JaVonne Jones
JaVonne Jones is an anointed electric violinist hailing from the city of Augusta, Georgia. She began her venture as a musician at the age of 9. Now at the age of 36, she is continuously advancing in her gifting. Ms. Jones has studied the realm of instrumental music for several years; obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education as well as a Master of Education degree in Music Education. She recently obtained an Education Specialist degree in Educational Leadership at Nova Southeastern University.
As a music specialist for a decade, JaVonne Jones has received numerous homages for her service in the area of music education. She was named the 2014-2015 Deer Chase Elementary Teacher of the year. Out of 41 top teachers in the school system, Ms. Jones was then named the 2015 Richmond County Teacher of the year. She is also the proud owner of “A String Thing Instrumental Services” where she teaches private violin lessons to students in the Central Savannah River Area. In addition to her educational accolades, JaVonne was honored by the Sister’s Only Club as a SHERO in the category of entertainment. Ms. Jones graces churches and stages all across the country. She has been favored with opportunities to open for several entertainment and gospel giants including Rickey Smiley, Tamela Mann, and Dottie Peoples.
2020 Chisholm Champion
Mayor Aja Brown
Mayor Aja Brown made history at 31 as the youngest mayor ever elected in the City of Compton. A national trailblazer, Mayor Brown’s ‘New Vision for Compton’ is a revitalization strategy centered on 12-key principles that focus on family values, quality of life, economic development and infrastructural growth. She was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second four-year term in June of 2017.
Mayor Brown is focused on improving outcomes through policy reform, innovation and strategic partnerships. She proudly serves the Citizens of Compton by developing and implementing public policies that facilitate guided growth through the protection of community assets.
Since taking office, Mayor Brown has launched several community initiatives and policy changes aimed at reducing crime by tackling tough issues such as gang intervention, and domestic human trafficking head on. The Mayor’s efforts to fortify the City have been instrumental in eliminating hourly motel rentals and condemning businesses that incubate human trafficking, and other illicit activity. In June 2014, Mayor Brown started Compton Empowered, a community based gang reduction and intervention initiative focused on empowering ex-gang members to take back their neighborhoods through peace treaties, unity activities and employment opportunities. The efforts of Mayor Brown and participating community members have resulted in a nearly 50% decrease in homicides from 2014 to 2015 and continues to be the leading agency of community driven safety reform throughout the City.
Mayor Brown has been successful in reducing the unemployment rate by 50 percent in Compton from 18 percent in July of 2013, to 9 percent in the month of December 2015, while successfully attracting new companies and employment to the City. The Mayor has executed policy that improves access to Compton City employment through the First Source Hiring Agreement, adopted in October 2013, which mandates 35 percent local hiring for city assisted and funded projects that often times yield neighborhood improvement.
Mayor Brown is the recipient of the esteemed 2016 John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, she has received the Brave Ones Leadership Award by Leadercast in 2015 and was awarded the prestigious University of Southern California 2014 Young Alumni Merit Award. Mayor Brown served on the California State Delta Stewardship Council from late 2014 to 2016, a governing body created by legislation to achieve the state mandated coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem. Mayor Brown has also led young women and girls empowerment efforts with her esteemed partnership with Girls Fly!, a global initiative geared at exposing young women and girls to careers in science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
Mayor Brown has received a lauded number of honors, including the National Action Network Martin Luther King Award, for her youth, women’s rights and socio-economic equality work in advocacy. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy, Urban Planning and Development, along with a Master’s degree in Urban Planning with a concentration in Economic Development from the University of Southern California. She is married to her best friend of 14 years, Van Brown.